Götterdämmerung

American  

[got-er-dam-uh-roong, -ruhng, gœt-uhr-dem-uh-roong] / ˌgɒt ərˈdæm əˌrʊŋ, -ˌrʌŋ, ˌgœt ərˈdɛm əˌrʊŋ /

noun

1. German Mythology. the destruction of the gods and of all things in a final battle with evil powers: erroneous modern translation of the Old Icelandic Ragnarǫk, meaning “fate of the gods,” misunderstood as Ragnarökkr, meaning “twilight of the gods.”

2. (italics) See The Ring of the Nibelung.

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Götterdämmerung British  

/ ɡœtərˈdɛmərʊŋ, ˌɡɒtəˈdɛməˌrʊŋ /

noun

1. Norse equivalent: Ragnarök.  German myth the twilight of the gods; their ultimate destruction in a battle with the forces of evil

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Etymology

Origin of Götterdämmerung

1875–80; < German, equivalent to Götter, plural of Gott God + Dämmerung twilight

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Götterdämmerung

The global financial crisis, which proved fatal for some competing institutions, was almost Mr. Blankfein’s Götterdämmerung as well.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026

I assumed that he would only choose all-out war in Ukraine if he felt he was threatened by outside forces in the Götterdämmerung of his regime.

From Slate ● Feb. 26, 2022

Words, concepts and images that pervade his work have become commonplace signifiers in contemporary discourse: Valhalla, Liebestod, Valkyrie, Gesamtkunstwerk, Flying Dutchman, Nibelung, Brünnhilde, Götterdämmerung, Siegfried, Leitmotiv, endless melody, to name just a few.

From New York Times ● Sep. 16, 2020

I would love to believe that there’s something not just pathetic but noble about Jeb’s self-immolation, and that he’s either deliberately or unconsciously choosing to stage the Bush family’s Götterdämmerung on a grand scale.

From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2015

All the music is racing through my brain, from the lovely wave chorus of the swimming Rhine maidens to the magnificent end of the "Götterdämmerung" with all the different motifs worked in.

From Letters of a Diplomat's Wife 1883-1900 by Waddington, Mary King